“My dismissal lasted two minutes,” said Magdalena Gawin, former director of the Pilecki Institute, who was removed by the coalition on April 13 this year. Now, Professor Krzysztof Ruchniewicz is being considered for the position. What does this historian think about Poland seeking reparations from Germany? He calls it “a partisan reparation campaign by PiS.”
On April 11, the then Minister of Culture and National Heritage dismissed three directors of cultural institutions, including Magdalena Gawin, who had been leading the Pilecki Institute. She stated that the whole process took just two minutes.
“I was dismissed before my contract expired and during an audit, which hadn’t concluded, and before post-audit recommendations. In the document, allegations were made as if the audit findings had already been released,” she recounted on Wnet radio.
After months with Wojciech Kozłowski acting as interim director, the ministry has finally identified a new candidate: Professor Krzysztof Ruchniewicz. What do we know about this historian?
“One of Poland’s most respected experts on Polish-German relations, he previously served as the director of the Willy Brandt Center and is also a representative for Polish-German social and cross-border cooperation,” according to Gazeta Wyborcza.
However, his stance remains controversial.
“PiS’s Partisan Reparation Campaign”
In an interview with Germany’s Deutsche Welle, Professor Ruchniewicz stated that “regarding reparations, there are no longer any legal or political means that Poland can use.”
As a government representative, he advocates for aid for the still-living victims of the Third Reich.
“It shouldn’t be about fantasies of multi-billion-dollar transfers to Poland’s budget, but rather about the quality of life for the few remaining witnesses and victims of World War II,” he said in 2022.